It's hard to say with absolute certainty whether someone who suffers from all of these disorders would be better off living in the same town as their children. Part of the answer to your question depends on whether the person experiences their children as somehow related to or being a "cause" of these disorders - so less contact could be helpful if you're saying that this person's symptoms may be exacerbated by contact with their children and less contact would perhaps help "alleviate" or reduce these symptoms.

On the other hand, if the children are being used as a support system to assist this person as they cope with these disorders (such as by providing social support, helping with daily chores if that's needed, or assisting with other activities to reduce anxiety levels and help them with certain tasks that can seem debilitating while suffering from depression), then more frequent contact can be helpful - if the person is requesting their assistance and the children are also willing to be more involved in this person's life.

I hope that helps. If you'd like to discuss this more, please feel free to reply to this message. Best wishes.

Well I think it would actually help me since I was forced by the Army to change posts that separated me from my daughter. When I moved she was 4 months old and recently visited her (she's now 22 months) and we got along great and being around my daughter seemed to give me a better outlook on life and brightened my mood greatly.

In that case, it seems absolutely certain to me that it would be better for you (and better for your daughter, too) to be in closer contact. If your symptoms are improved by seeing her (and it makes sense that you would feel 10 times better, if not more, by having more contact rather than less), then living in the same town (to answer your initial question) is the best option to pursue. Please let me know if I can help you further with this.

Well obviously I can't use your word as an argument to be transferred to the WTU up there but my therapists here might have influence so should I speak to them about this and see if they will consider making this a reference to my commanding officer?

Yes, unfortunately, that's true - my word probably won't do much good (except give you a bit of hope and some peace of mind, or at least I hope it will) I think your best bet is to speak to your therapists, as they will most likely be more familiar with the process you'd need to go through to obtain a transfer. If it's in the best interest of your mental health, then I see no reason that they wouldn't agree to recommend you for a transfer, if that's possible. I would speak to the therapist(s) and discuss with them all of the reasons that you believe a transfer would be beneficial for you. They're obviously familiar with your diagnoses, so unless there are other extenuating circumstances, I would imagine that they would at least react favorably to your request for a letter of recommendation. I hope it works out for you.

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

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